Archi Automate User Guide

Updated for version 27.26 · September 2026.

Getting started

What you need

To use Archi Automate you need three things:

• One or more supported host applications installed — Revit 2024–2027, Rhino 8 (including Grasshopper), Archicad, AutoCAD, Tekla Structures, Blender, SketchUp, Vectorworks, or QGIS — and/or IFC files for the openBIM connector (which needs no CAD application at all).
• An MCP-capable AI client — Claude, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Antigravity, Gemini CLI, Cline, JetBrains AI Assistant, or any other MCP client.
• A licence — or simply start the 14-day full-featured trial, which runs automatically on first use with no key and covers every host.

For reliable AI-composed operations we recommend a capable model tier — Claude Opus 4.8 (High) or GPT-5.5 (High) or better. Voice input is available wherever your AI client provides it.

How it works

Archi Automate runs quietly in the background. A single MCP server presents one tool surface to your AI client and routes each request to the right host bridge. Tools are namespaced per host (revit_*, rhino_*, archicad_*, autocad_*, tekla_*, blender_*, sketchup_*, vectorworks_*, qgis_*, ifc_*, bcf_*). Dedicated grasshopper_* tools target definitions in the active Rhino 8 process and use that Rhino session; they do not create another host session. A cross-host discovery tool lists every running session at once.

• For Revit, Rhino, AutoCAD, Tekla Structures, Blender, SketchUp, Vectorworks, and QGIS, the AI composes governed operations at runtime across the host's own API, in the host's own scripting language — C# for the .NET hosts, Python for Blender, Vectorworks and QGIS, Ruby for SketchUp. It is not limited to a fixed list of commands.
• For Grasshopper, dedicated tools read definitions, graphs and data trees; discover installed components; create and edit graph objects and connections; set sliders, panels and toggles; open or save files; and explicitly solve the definition. Every operation is routed through the existing Rhino 8 bridge.
• For Archicad, the AI drives a first-party add-on that exposes a curated, governed set of read and write commands. Vectorworks additionally offers curated 2D authoring commands (create/delete drawing objects) on top of its Python surface, governed the same way.
• For openBIM, a headless connector opens IFC files — or federates several disciplines — in memory and provides the whole openBIM suite: IFC read/author, IDS validation and authoring, clash detection, quantity take-off, embodied-carbon estimation, visual snapshots, COBie/glTF export, and BCF coordination — independent of any CAD vendor.

No host adds a ribbon button; the bridges run silently. Interoperability between programs is handled by the AI in the conversation — Archi Automate does not sync data between applications behind your back.

Supported hosts & AI clients

Hosts

Grasshopper definitions through Rhino 8

Grasshopper is a capability of the Rhino 8 bridge, not an additional host. Keep Rhino 8 running with the definition open: the grasshopper_* tools target that active Rhino process and share its session, package, licence, execution mode, guardrails and audit history.

• Inspect: list open definitions; read components, parameters, wires, nicknames, lock state, values and data trees while preserving branch paths and value types.
• Discover: search and describe the installed Grasshopper component catalogue before building or editing a graph.
• Edit: atomically add, remove or move standard installed components; connect or disconnect parameters; rename or lock objects; and set Number Slider, Panel and Boolean Toggle values.
• Manage and run: create, open and save .gh files, then explicitly solve a definition when you request it.

Graph writes are prevalidated and grouped into one undo record. Preview mode applies the proposed graph edit and then undoes it without solving. Opening a definition loads it disabled and does not auto-solve. Standard installed components can be created; creating new script components is intentionally not supported.

You can run several host sessions at once, and a single AI conversation can target each of them. openBIM works on IFC exported from any authoring tool — Revit, Archicad, Rhino, MicroStation, Tekla and more — and can federate several discipline models into one session for cross-discipline checks.

Cloud platforms

Two Autodesk cloud services connect directly. Neither needs a desktop application, and neither needs a host licence.

Each connector signs you in through your browser, as yourself, and the two connections are cached independently — revoking one never signs you out of the other. Before the first sign-in can succeed, an administrator has to authorise the app on the Autodesk account: see Authorise the Autodesk cloud connectors.

AI image providers

Four cloud image providers connect through your own account. None needs a desktop application, and none needs a host licence; you pay the provider directly, per image, and Archi adds no mark-up.

Keys are added on the Hub's Services page. OpenAI's GPT Image 2.5 models additionally require your OpenAI organisation to be verified in OpenAI's own console; until then a valid key answers with an access error that names the step.

AI clients

Archi Automate is a standard MCP server, so it works with any MCP-capable AI client. The Hub gives one-click connection for eight clients and a guided manual setup for a ninth:

• One-click: Claude (Desktop & Code), OpenAI Codex, Cursor, VS Code (Copilot agent), Windsurf, Antigravity, Gemini CLI, Cline.
• Manual snippet: JetBrains AI Assistant.
• Any other current or future MCP client connects with the same copy-paste configuration.

Installation

One installer, all hosts

A single elevated install installs the shared components and a bridge for each host detected on your machine. Installation requires administrator rights (it writes to Program Files and, for Archicad, to the Archicad Add-Ons folder). Close any open host applications before installing.

• Revit — the add-in is registered automatically for the Revit years found on the machine. Restart Revit to load it.
• Rhino + Grasshopper — one plug-in is registered as a Yak package for Rhino 8. Restart Rhino to load it (the Hub can also run this from the Bridges page). Grasshopper needs no separate Archi Automate plug-in or Hub card.
• Blender — the add-on ships in the installer and is deployed machine-wide into Blender's scripts, so it auto-loads for all users. Restart Blender to load it. The Hub's Configure button on the Blender card can also install it per-user.
• AutoCAD — the plug-in is registered with AutoCAD's automatic plug-in loader. Restart AutoCAD to load it.
• Tekla Structures — nothing to start manually; the bridge launches on demand the first time you use a Tekla tool and exits when idle. Have Tekla open with a model.
• SketchUp / Vectorworks / QGIS — the extension or plug-in is installed into each application's extensions folder; restart the application to load it (the Hub's Configure button can also register it per-user).
• Archicad — the native add-on is copied into the Add-Ons folder of each installed Archicad generation — 27, 28 and 29 are supported, and the installer deploys the matching signed add-on for each generation it finds (restart Archicad to load it). The resident bridge starts on demand the first time you use an Archicad tool.
• openBIM — nothing to install per host; the connector is headless and starts on demand the first time an IFC, IDS, or BCF tool is used.

Connect your AI client

After installation, open the Hub's LLMs page and click Connect next to your client. Archi Automate writes the connection entry into that client's configuration for you (per-user, backed up first, merged without overwriting your other settings). Restart the client afterwards. For step-by-step setup and a copy-paste snippet per client, use the Hub's Help page.

Authorise the Autodesk cloud connectors

The Forma and Construction Cloud connectors sign in as you, through your browser. Before that sign-in can succeed, an administrator has to authorise the Archi Automate app on the Autodesk account. These are one-time steps per account, and both procedures need the app's public identifiers:

• App name — Archi Automate
• Client ID — NzaIlycoSd2iK0cj1K3JDeX4Wzz3zy2yxIgRsquL3xi7CIHT
• Sign-in callback — http://localhost:53750/forma/callback. This is a local address and nothing listens externally, but endpoint-security policies that restrict local listeners may need to allow it.

ACC and BIM 360 — add the Custom Integration

1. An account admin opens Account Admin and goes to Settings → Custom Integrations.
2. Choose Add Custom Integration, paste the Client ID and the app name, and grant Document Management — add Account Administration too if you want project creation and membership management.
3. Repeat on every account your users need. An organisation with hubs in more than one region has more than one account, and each one must be authorised separately.

When this step is missing the connection still appears to succeed — the hub is simply absent from the listings, because the refusal comes back inside an otherwise successful response. Archi Automate reports that as "needs provisioning" rather than as a failure.

Forma — install the extension, in the right order

Forma grants API access per project through an extension, and installing that extension takes a snapshot of its permissions. Configure the extension completely before you install it — changes made afterwards do not take effect until it is installed again.

1. In the Forma hub's extension management, add the Archi Automate extension.
2. Before installing it, put the Client ID above in the extension's Service accounts field, and add the projects it may reach to the extension's project list.
3. Only then install the extension into the site. After any later change to the permissions or the project list, install it again.

The symptom of the wrong order is a persistent access-denied that no amount of re-consenting will fix. Two further Forma details: use the pro_… project id from the design-mode URL rather than the up_… id shown on the project overview, and make sure the project's region matches — the wrong region is refused in the same way.

Trial and licences

• Trial — on first run without a key, a 14-day full-featured trial starts automatically and covers all hosts.
• Desktop licence — single-machine activation (perpetual or subscription).
• Floating licence — one seat checked out from your company pool, shared across hosts and released on shutdown.

One licence covers you across all ten host applications at the same time. For silent and managed deployment, see the Silent Installer Guide.

The Hub

The Hub is a small desktop dashboard with a left navigation rail of four pages: Bridges, LLMs, Guardrails, and Help. It detects and manages every host bridge and AI client, edits the guardrail policy, and shows live session status.

Bridges

Shows a card for each of the ten desktop and file hosts — Revit, Rhino, Archicad, AutoCAD, Tekla Structures, Blender, SketchUp, Vectorworks, QGIS, and an openBIM (IFC) card with the buildingSMART mark — plus overall Connection and Licence tiles and a Sessions grid. Grasshopper stays inside the Rhino card because its tools run in the active Rhino 8 process.

• Green — running and the bridge is live (a session is actually being served).
• Amber — installed and configured, but no session is being served right now.
• Grey — host not installed.

Each card has an action where one applies — for example Configure to register the bridge. Revit is set up by the installer and Rhino via Yak; Grasshopper uses that same Rhino package and card. The Archicad and openBIM bridges are out-of-process and start on demand — the first relevant AI request spins them up — so a card can show the host present with the bridge not yet running. The openBIM card carries the buildingSMART mark and surfaces its capabilities: IFC, IDS, and BCF, plus analysis (clash, quantity take-off, embodied carbon) and export (COBie, glTF).

The Bridges page: live status for every host bridge, including the openBIM (IFC · IDS · BCF) card, plus the Sessions grid.

LLMs

Where you connect AI clients. Each of the eight one-click clients (plus JetBrains) shows its configured/running status with a one-click Connect that writes the Archi Automate entry into that client's config. Restart the client after connecting.

The LLMs page: one-click connection for eight AI clients, plus JetBrains and any other MCP client.

Services

Where you add the API keys for the cloud image providers. One tile per provider — OpenAI, Black Forest Labs, fal.ai and Google — each with a status dot and the actions that apply: Set key, Test (a free call that confirms the key works), Remove, and Get a key, which opens the provider's own key page. Keys are stored encrypted for your Windows user on this machine, are read only by the local Archi Automate server, and are never passed to the AI assistant or included in any prompt. The guardrail policy can restrict which providers may be used and can disable key entry through the assistant altogether, so the Hub stays the only way in.

Guardrails

A graphical editor for the guardrail policy (see Guardrails & settings): execution mode, a code-safety toggle, a cap on how many elements one operation can touch, a block-deletes guard, and audit logging — with a read-only view of the full policy and its file path. Changes save to the local policy and apply on the next request, with no host restart.

The Guardrails page: choose what the AI may do, set safety limits, and review the policy.

Help

Per-client setup guides — status, Connect, Open config folder, a native-format snippet, and step-by-step instructions — plus a short "how it works & troubleshooting" card.

The Help page: connect each assistant, with a copy-paste snippet and instructions.

Workflows

Guardrails & settings

One global policy governs every host. You edit it on the Hub's Guardrails page; changes apply on the next request with no host restart.

Execution modes

• Read only (default) — the AI can read and analyse any model but cannot change anything. The safest setting.
• Preview changes (dry-run) — the AI composes the operation and shows exactly what would change, then rolls it back; nothing is written until you commit. Supported where the host and operation allow it — today Revit, Rhino, and openBIM model edits (IFC authoring, classification, EPD write-back).
• Allow changes — write operations are applied. Required for Archicad and Vectorworks structured writes, for the scripting hosts' write tasks (AutoCAD, Tekla Structures, Blender, SketchUp, Vectorworks, QGIS), and for openBIM file-writing tools — saving IFC, exporting COBie/glTF, and all BCF writes — which apply directly and cannot be previewed.

Safety limits

• Code-safety — every AI-composed operation, in every language the hosts use (C#, Python, and Ruby alike), is screened against a configurable deny-list before it runs. This is defence-in-depth, not a sandbox.
• Max elements per operation — a cap so a single action can't touch your whole model at once.
• Block deletes — a hard guard against element deletion.
• Category limits — restrict which categories the AI may touch.
• Audit log — a record of every request, kept on this computer for review and compliance.
• Timeout & readiness — long-running requests time out at a configurable limit, and a request to a busy host is abandoned rather than run late.

An optional company overlay can override and lock selected settings across a team, enforced even offline.

Cloud AI image policy

The same policy file that governs writes also governs cloud rendering. An administrator can restrict the allowed providers, cap the maximum image size (1K, 2K or 4K), set the default model, and mark the installation as handling confidential projects. In confidential mode, providers whose terms allow them to train on submitted images are refused, and the other providers receive their no-storage switches with every request. Key entry through the assistant can be disabled so that keys only ever enter through the Hub.

Troubleshooting

A host shows no session

Cause: the host isn't running, the bridge isn't loaded (host not restarted after install), or — for Archicad — the resident bridge or the add-on isn't present.

Fix: confirm the host is open; check the Hub's Bridges page for the host card and dot; for Archicad ensure both the resident bridge and the add-on are present; restart the host if the bridge was just installed.

No Blender session appears

Cause: the add-on wasn't deployed into Blender's scripts, or Blender wasn't restarted after installing.

Fix: re-run the installer or use the Hub's Configure button on the Blender card, then restart Blender. The card turns green once Blender is open and the bridge is serving.

No session for AutoCAD, Tekla, SketchUp, Vectorworks, or QGIS

Cause: the application isn't running; the plug-in or extension isn't loaded (application not restarted after install); or — for Tekla — no model is open, so the on-demand bridge has nothing to connect to.

Fix: open the application (with a model or project), check the Hub's Bridges page for the host card and its status dot, and restart the application if the bridge was just installed. The Tekla bridge starts on demand the first time you use a Tekla tool.

Host running but not responding ("not ready")

Cause: the host is still starting, a dialog is open, or it is mid-command.

Fix: wait briefly and retry — the signal is recoverable by design, and no write is ever applied when it appears. Dismiss any open dialog. On slow machines an administrator can raise the pickup grace period.

A write was rejected

Cause: the execution mode is Read only, a company policy overrides it, block-deletes is active, the target category is denied, or (Archicad) a preview was requested, which Archicad can't do.

Fix: set the mode to Allow changes (or Preview for Revit/Rhino) in the Hub; for Archicad use Allow changes; contact IT if a company policy is blocking it.

Archicad writes or project identity fail

Cause: the native add-on isn't loaded.

Fix: ensure the add-on is installed in the Add-Ons folder of your Archicad version (27, 28 or 29) and restart Archicad. Reads still work without it.

openBIM: "no model open" or file not found

Cause: a tool was called before a file was opened, or the path was wrong.

Fix: open an IFC file with an absolute path first; a ping or document list confirms what is loaded and its schema. Opening a new file replaces the previous one.

openBIM: BCF write refused, or "no BCF open"

Cause: a BCF call before a container was opened or created, or a BCF save / validate-to-BCF run while in Read only or Preview mode.

Fix: open or create a BCF container first. BCF writes aren't previewable — set the mode to Allow changes. To validate straight to BCF, open the IFC model first.

openBIM: newest authoring tools not visible in the client

Cause: the AI client is running against an older copy of the installed connector.

Fix: refresh the installed Archi Automate connector and reconnect the client. The newest IFC and BCF authoring tools are built and verified, but a client must reconnect to see them.

A render is refused, or a provider is "not configured"

• Provider not configured: no key is stored for that provider on this Windows user. Add it on the Hub's Services page and press Test.
• OpenAI answers with an access error for a GPT Image 2.5 model: the key is fine, but your OpenAI organisation has not completed Organization Verification. Complete it in OpenAI's console; access can take up to fifteen minutes to propagate.
• Google rejects every image model: the Google project behind the key has no billing account. Image models are not available on the free tier.
• Black Forest Labs rejects a large multi-image edit: FLUX.2 allows about nine megapixels of input plus output per call. The assistant downscales large references and warns; ask for a smaller output or fewer references.
• A provider or model is refused by policy: the guardrail policy restricts providers, the image size, or confidential-project handling. The message names the setting.

A Forma or ACC hub or project is missing

Cause: the Autodesk account has not been authorised for the app, or — on Forma — the extension was installed before it was configured, so its permissions were snapshotted without your projects.

Fix: for ACC, have an account admin add the Custom Integration on that account, in that region — each region is a separate account. For Forma, check the extension's service account and project list, then install the extension again; changes made after installing do not apply until you do. Check too that you are using the pro_… project id and the matching region. See Authorise the Autodesk cloud connectors.

Limitations

• Archicad 27 and 28 support is complete and signed, but broad field verification across real 27 and 28 installations is still under way. Element reads are unaffected — they use Archicad's official API.
• The Forma and Construction Cloud connectors need each Autodesk account to be authorised once by an administrator; until that is done, a hub simply does not appear in the listings.
• Publishing a Revit cloud model needs an interactive, signed-in Revit session with the appropriate Autodesk entitlement. That is an Autodesk platform requirement rather than an Archi Automate one, and it means cloud publishing cannot run unattended.
• Migrating a project between hubs copies the latest version of each file. Version history, issues, markups and permissions do not travel — Autodesk exposes no mechanism to move them — and linked RVT paths need a relink pass afterwards.
• The Construction Cloud file-migration executor ships as an advanced, support-assisted workflow rather than a one-click card in the Hub.
• Archi Automate does not save models after a write — you save manually.
• Code-safety screening of AI-composed operations (C#, Python, and Ruby alike) is defence-in-depth, not a true sandbox.
• Archicad has no write preview; writes apply directly in Allow-changes mode and live until you save.
• Blender scene export is basic today (MVP); full parity with the Revit / Rhino / IFC exporters is a follow-up.
• Blender has no first-class render tool yet — rendering works today through the governed Python path; a dedicated render tool is on the roadmap.
• Blender asset import reaches the internet to download public CC0 assets from Poly Haven; no model data leaves your machine.
• Vectorworks structured writes (create/delete 2D objects) apply directly in Allow-changes mode — they cannot be previewed, like Archicad's writes.
• Scene export maturity varies by host: IFC, Revit, and Rhino produce a full viewer-ready scene; Blender's exporter is basic today; SketchUp exports the element map with Collada geometry (not yet viewer-ready); Vectorworks scene export is deferred. Archicad, AutoCAD, Tekla, and QGIS scene export is planned.
• QGIS site context is built entirely from the layers already loaded in your QGIS project — it adds terrain, and it makes no internet connections.
• Cross-program work is orchestrated by the AI in the conversation — there is no automatic background sync between applications.
• openBIM is file-based: you work on the in-memory model (or federation) and save. The assistant can render still snapshots and export glTF, but there is no live, continuous 3D viewport like the desktop hosts.
• Geometry-dependent tools (snapshots, clash detection, quantity take-off, carbon, glTF) need a model that carries geometry; a data-only IFC returns a clear message instead.
• Federated models must share a common world origin — federation does not re-georeference them.
• Embodied-carbon figures are estimates with an honest coverage report, not a certified LCA; EPD-grade results use the live Ökobaudat source (online), with graceful fallback offline.
• openBIM file-writing tools (saving IFC, COBie/glTF export, and all BCF writes) are not previewable and require Allow-changes mode; openBIM model edits do support an exact dry-run.
• AI image models that work from a reference image keep geometry by instruction, not by construction: the assistant states what must stay and checks the result, and geometry locking from depth and line passes is available on fal.ai and still being tuned.
• Cloud rendering is billed by each provider to your own account; Archi Automate quotes before it spends and records the metered cost, but does not cap provider-side spending.
• Black Forest Labs' service terms allow the provider to use submitted images for training; the confidential-projects policy excludes it. AI-generated images carry the providers' content credentials (C2PA, SynthID) where the provider applies them.
• AI-generated operation quality depends on the model tier — Claude Opus 4.8 (High) and GPT-5.5 (High) are the recommended minimums.

Related links

• Archi Automate — AI for AEC
• Download page
• Silent Installer Guide
• Archi Automate Forum